Becky Wade's Blog, page 88

My Advice to New Writers

Recently, a woman who’s writing her first manuscript reached out to me. She was feeling discouraged because she heard experienced writers talking about how many manuscripts they wrote before penning one that was strong enough to publish. She asked me for my thoughts. I’m sharing here what I shared with her, in case it’s helpful to aspiring writers or insightful to readers who enjoy learning about what goes on “behind the scenes” of the books you love!

First, I’m sending my encouragement! It’s FABULOUS that you’re about to finish the initial draft of your novel. What an outstanding accomplishment!

Based on my own experience, the experience of my author friends, and my years of mentoring beginning writers, I’ve seen that it takes most of us a lot of practice to write a novel well. Usually, learning the craft of writing is something that requires time. This is a long game.

In my case, I spent four years writing four manuscripts before I published one. Even so, all these years later, I’m embarrassed by the book I published first (in the late 90s for a general market publisher) because I’ve grown so much as a writer and person since then.

In most cases, a writer’s fourth manuscript will be much stronger than her first because she’ll have been learning as she goes, receiving feedback, and pouring all that greater and greater knowledge into each subsequent manuscript.

Above, I’ve used the terms “usually” and “in most cases” because there are exceptions. Every once in awhile, a writer will publish her first ever manuscript, and it’s terrific. But typically (not always) when that happens, it’s because she reworked and reworked that first book, spending the same amount of time on it she’d have spent writing four had she put that first one on the shelf and moved on.

Self-publishing is fabulous but one of the dangers of it is how easy it is to release a less-than-great book. You only have once chance to be a debut author. You’ll get extra buzz then. But if readers try your debut book and they don’t like it, you’ll have a hard time coaxing them to try your work again. So it’s best for an author’s career for her debut book to be very strong.

I’d suggest that you finish this draft, rewrite it as best you can, and then seek out trustworthy feedback. From an experienced freelance editor, for example. It’s only when knowledgeable readers (not bookish friends or family members), published contest judges, etc are all saying, “This is outstanding! This is ready to be published!” that I’d consider taking that step.

I’m cheering you on because you’re doing the exact right thing at this stage. You’re completing your first manuscript. And that’s a necessary stepping stone to whatever comes next …. whether with this book or future books.

Writers and readers, what are your thoughts?

Life Changes, Storyfest, a Podcast, & a Giveaway

As I write this, we’re in the final push to my daughter’s wedding in a week. Can I be honest? I am so thrilled for her and her fiance…we’ve known him and his family for years. His parents are even some of our best friends, but I’m still a bit in denial. How is my first born old enough to get married? And by extention…how am I old enough to have a child who is getting married? I often joke that I’m 25 on the inside, maybe because I teach college students, but every once in a while, my real age catches up with me. Gulp!

The day before her wedding the first of two novellas due in September will be turned in. This summer I’ve lived in 1942 and 1945. It’s been so fun to step back in time again. If you’re a new reader, you may not know that when I started writing, eight of my first 10 or so books were set during WWII. Basically, I was about eight years ahead of the trend. Editing the first novella while finishing the second has made me nostalgic for those first books. What’s a writer to do, but lower the price on the first of all my babies to free through August 28th. If you’re looking for a quick, clean, historical read, be sure to download Canteen Dreams this weekend. It has 4.4/5 stars with 305 ratings on Amazon, so many readers think it’s a good read.

Last week the 70th episode of Book Talk with Cara dropped. Umm, can someone tell me how a project that started because I was missing my writing friends took off like that? What you might not know is that the episodes are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

Would you be willing to help me know what should happen next with the podcast? I’ve created a short survey to collect readers’ ideas on who they’d like me to talk to next as well as what type of interviews they enjoy. Would you take a minute to pop over and let me know what you think? As a thank you, I’ll be sending a copy of one of my books to those who complete the survey.

Finally, like many of the authors here, I’m getting ready to attend StoryFest at the ACFW conference in St. Louis at the beginning of next month. I’d love to see you there. You can learn all the details here. Use my code (carputman) to get $20 off the cost of registration.

I’m binging Susan May Warren’s the Epic Story of RJ and York and loving it, but I’m on the last installment. That means I’ll be looking for a new book to read ASAP. What have you read lately that you enjoyed?

Unexpected Gifts

Hi friends, 

I’m excited to introduce today’s guest blogger, Traci Abramson. She’s sharing about the friendships we make along our writing journey, and I’m blessed to have met her on my own. I know you’ll enjoy her post today! And, be sure to comment to be entered in the giveaway. 

I’m often asked what I consider to be the best part of being an author. The answer has been the same since I started this career almost twenty years ago: the people. Fans, booksellers, fellow writers, editors, publicists, and so many others who interact with us along the way—each fuels our sense of belonging in this unique writing community.

I have to admit that when I first started on my journey to becoming an author, I was a classic closet writer. No one knew that I was drafting my first novel. No one even knew that I aspired to be a novelist, not even my husband.

Now, keep in mind that I am former CIA, so if I want to keep a secret, I have a high probability of success.

My path to publication was a slow one, seven years of writing and rewriting my first novel. I never would have succeeded had I not learned to share my work and accept feedback.

Over the years, I have been blessed to meet so many authors who have since become treasured friends. While some people may see others authors as competition, I have never experienced that sensation. Rather, I have found that other writers cheer the loudest when they witness another author have a success.

In addition to the general support I have received from others, I have also enjoyed working with friends to create a few suspense anthologies, including Sinister Secrets, which comes out on September 1st. Another delightful outcome of these friendships has been co-authoring several projects.

The first co-written novel began with an idea by a good friend, Paige Edwards. We combined our collective talents with two other friends, Sian Ann Bessey and A.L. Sowards, to create Heirs of Falcon Point. The intent was to write a single novel, but Sian and I quickly discovered that our characters’ stories weren’t done yet. In the midst of Covid, we joined forces again to write The Danger with Diamonds (coming Oct. 11, 2022).

At a time when we felt so isolated from the world, we were able to create something magical. Family connections, good-humored banter, and new romance are combined with a healthy dose of suspense in a way that allowed our friendship and respective strengths to shine through.

While the talents the Lord has shared with me often puts my name on the covers of books and in front of others in various ways, each of us has our own gifts and strengths. Whether it’s playing an instrument, creating something beautiful, lending a listening ear, and yes, being a good friend, our inherent talents are within us just waiting to be used and explored.

READER QUESTION: What talents or traits are you most grateful for? And what talents would you most like to develop?

GIVEAWAY: Comment below to be entered to win an advance reader copy of The Danger with Diamonds or a copy of Traci’s latest book, Not Dead Yet.

Traci Hunter Abramson was born in Arizona, where she lived until moving to Venezuela for a study abroad program. After earning her degree in finance and international business, she worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, eventually resigning in order to raise her family. She credits the CIA with giving her a wealth of ideas as well as the skills needed to survive her children’s teenage years. She loves to travel and recently retired after twenty-six years coaching her local high school swim team. She has written more than thirty-five best-selling novels and has been honored to receive several awards over the years, including 2017 and 2019 Whitney Award Best Novel of the Year. You can find out more about Traci and her books at www.traciabramson.com, on her various social media pages, and in her Facebook group, Traci’s Friends.

How Many Hours A Day Do Writers Write?

Today I thought I’d address one of the common questions authors receive: “How many hours a day do you write?”

What do you think? Do authors spend eight hours a day writing as in most other professions? Or do they stay up all night burning the midnight oil? Or do they sit down and dash off chapters in no time flat? Before you read the following answers, make a guess in your own mind, or share in the comments (if you’re brave). Have your answer ready?

Now, here are responses from eight author-friends (and me):

D’Ann Mateer, Karen Witemeyer, Erica VetschHow Many Hours a Day Do You Write?

D’Ann Mateer:  Currently I’d say I write 2-4 hours a day.

Karen Witemeyer:  I have a full-time day job, so my writing time is very sporadic. In an ideal world, I’d love to write at least 2 hours a day (although “writing time” for me usually includes email checking, social media marketing, researching, etc. so it would be more like 4-6 hours a day if that is included). However, with the day job, I end up writing much less on weekdays, and write for about 8 hours on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday to meet my goal of completing one chapter a week. Someday, when I retire from the day job, I hope to have a more regulated writing schedule, but for now it pretty much comes down to whenever I can find the time.

Erica Vetsch:  The true answer is—it depends. If I’m on a deadline of some kind, I can write from 4-6 hours a day. Mostly, I write from 2-4 hours on weekday afternoons. I do lots of other writing tasks like editing, marketing, blogging, etc, but for writing on the manuscript, I average about 3 hours per weekday. (Since I have about 10 days to finish this manuscript, I’ll write however long it takes!)

Julie Klassen, Michelle Griep, Robin Lee Hatcher

Julie Klassen:  It depends on how close the deadline is! I suppose I average two or three hours a day actually writing—except when a deadline is looming, then maybe six or eight hours. Other time is spent editing, marketing, researching, etc.

Michelle Griep:  Authors write a lot of words on many things other than their manuscript, but as for me, once I start a story, I put in a minimum of 4 hours every weekday.

Robin Lee Hatcher:  I usually write about four hours a day, M-F. That is my time for getting new words on paper. I’m a morning person, so I usually write then, and I leave afternoons for the “business of writing stuff” (editing, revising, marketing, bookkeeping, cover design, etc.).

Jody Hedlund, Becky Wade, Dani Pettrey

Jody Hedlund:  I don’t necessarily write a certain number of hours a day. Instead, I write a certain number of words. Sometimes my daily goal will take me 4 hours and some days 8! It just depends on how well the words flow (and how diligent I am!).

Becky Wade:  I tackle writing-related business in the mornings! It typically takes me anywhere from 1-3 hours to reply to email and address that day’s marketing To Do list (social media, blogging, interviews, e-mail newsletters, etc). Once I have that out of the way, I write.  The time it takes to write on any given day varies widely, because I write according to daily page count goals. For example, I’m currently rewriting 20 pages a day. If I hardly need to make any changes to those 20 pages, I can knock them out in an hour and a half. But much more often, I decide that the pages need heavy editing. So I add content or cut/paste content or change the motivation/conflict/emotional slant of a scene. That can take ages.  I’d say that, on average, I work at this job for 6-8 hours a day.  

Dani Pettrey:  I don’t write for a specific amount of time. Rather, I write to a word count of 2500 words a day during what I call “normal” writing. During the last month before deadline that amount increases quite a bit. I typically write 12 hours a day during that month as I’m trying to pull everything together and polish it. 

Reading through these replies again, the answers seem to range from: A. two to three hours, B. four hours, C. six to eight hours, and D. up to twelve hours.

Do any of these numbers surprise you? If you are a writer, where do you fall? Let us know in the comments. And thanks to all the authors who contributed to today’s post!

An Anniversary Trip

As you read this, we are headed out on a little trip in our trusty 1998 Chinook camper. We’re celebrating our anniversary (a few days late) with a few days of camping in beautiful Tennessee.

Now that we’ve had the Chinook for a year and a half, we’ve outfitted it with most everything we need. We’ve found an extra toaster, pots and pans, mugs, etc. at garage sales, and these stay in the camper all the time. It sure does make packing easier. For shorter trips, we can pretty much pack our clothes, make the bed, pop the canisters on the shelves, put a few things in the fridge, and be on our way.

Ken loves longer trips of six weeks or more, but I have to admit I prefer these four-day jaunts. Just enough time to get away from the ordinary for a while, but not so long that I start missing our house and the kids and grandkids.

The Chinook really has begun to feel like a second home. It is just perfect for the way we like to travel. We’re taking the bikes with us on this trip and hope for nice enough weather to ride some trails in Tennessee.

Where have you traveled to this summer? Has your family always vacationed in the same place every year, or are you more of an explorer, looking for new places each time you travel? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

P.S. Just a reminder for you ebook lovers: our own Robin’s  Even Forever, the first book in her Boulder Creek Romance series, is free today! Also, my novel, A Scarlet Cord will be free this Thursday, August 25, so mark your calendars and grab your free copy!

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashVerseoftheDay.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with Scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.

A Busy Life … and I love it!

Recently a friend and I were commiserating about our crazy fall schedules. And this autumn seems especially busy-busy-busy to me.

I’ve got lots of friends and family who have retired or are planning to retire soon. While I am certainly old enough to retire, that word doesn’t seem to be in my vocabulary. And I’m good with that. I’m loving my full life.

Writing

My fall writing schedule calls for me to edit the book I’m almost done revising (All She Ever Dreamed) plus to write one novella and one novel (the first two stories in a new series) before Christmas. Only time will tell if I can actually finish Novel #1 in 2022 but I should be close.

College Classes

The new semester begins on Monday, August 22nd. I’m taking seven credits worth of classes this term. That’s a lot of study time each week. One of the classes will earn me two degree requirements in addition to the three credits. After that, I’ll only have one more degree requirement to meet. All credits that I need to finish after that can be “just for fun.” I can pick anything I feel like studying.

Bible Study

The Life Group that I lead for my church starts up again in September, and we will be using The Gospel on the Ground: the grit and glory of the early church in acts by Kristi McLelland. This study has seven teaching videos from Kristi, an amazing instructor. All of her studies are taught through a middle eastern lens, and I can tell you that my relationship with the Bible became so much richer when, a number of years ago, I began to read and study the Scriptures through that lens, thanks to teachers and writers like McLelland and Lois Tverberg and Kenneth E. Bailey.

Bible Study Fellowship also resumes in September. This year’s study is People of Promise: Divided Kingdom. Over eight months, participants will look at many biblical prophets including Elijah, Elisha, Obadiah, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Jeremiah.

What about you? What’s on your calendar for the final months of 2022?

~robin

P.S. Even Forever, the first book in the Boulder Creek Romance series, will be free on the Kindle/Kindle app this Monday, August 22, 2022.

Favorite Tropes

There are certain plots that readers love. Those common plots are known as tropes. While we writers don’t always use tropes in our stories, sometimes we do use a trope, or four.

Yes, in my latest release, ENFLAMED, which released on Tuesday, I used four tropes. Somehow the book ended up with these:

Friends to Lovers. Sir Espen has always kept Lady Sylvi at arm’s length all throughout their growing up years. Although he’s secretly held feelings for her, he’s never crossed the line in thinking that there could be something more between them.

Best Friend’s Sister. Not only is Espen friends with Lady Sylvi, but he’s best friends with her brother, Kristoffer. Kris would never approve of him looking at Sylvi in anything but a sisterly fashion. He most certainly wouldn’t approve of him falling in love with her.

Forbidden Love. As if the other obstacles aren’t enough, Espen and Sylvi are from different social classes. He’s the son of a poor fisherman, and she’s the daughter of a wealthy and prestigious noble family. She’s expected to form an advantageous marriage.

Marriage of Convenience. Espen agrees to help Sylvi escape the terrible matches her father has arranged for her. Of course, Espen can never say no to Sylvi, so when she proposes that they get married to thwart her father’s schemes, he reluctantly goes along with her plans for a marriage of convenience.

Join in reading this new love story and be swept away in the fast-paced adventure that involves a quest for an ancient holy lamp, a cliff-top lighthouse, and an imminent war with the neighboring king and his army of deadly Dark Warriors.

Early reviews are pouring in, and readers are loving Espen and Sylvi’s story:

“Enflamed has everything I’ve come to expect from this series – action, adventure, swoony knights, a steadfast leading lady, daring rescues, plot twists I didn’t see coming, romance……ah the romance. Espen and Sylvi were the cutest, y’all.”

“I know I say this with each new YA book of Ms Hedlund, but this is my favorite! A sweet, slow burning friends to lovers romance in the midst of life saving adventure.”

“LOVED this story, it was one of those you just couldn’t put down until finished. Of all the knights of brethren, Espen has got to be my favorite for his humble start, and easy-going nature.”

To learn more about ENFLAMED head over to my website page here: http://jodyhedlund.com/books/enflamed/

What about YOU? What is your favorite trope?

What’s Your Reading Sweet Spot?

In my Facebook group, The Posse, we have monthly reading challenges. We purposely make these easy to complete, and open to a wide range of book genres and styles. For example, the challenge might be to a read a book with no people on the cover or a book where the heroine is a mom.

Sometimes, though, the challenge theme aims to gently push readers out of their comfort zone. I don’t know about you, but I have a very strong “Sweet Spot” when it comes to reading. Nearly every novel I read for pleasure is set in the 1800’s. I love historicals, and while I might occasionally veer into a medieval or colonial setting, the 1800’s is my go-to era. And within this era, I usually stick to either America or England. Thankfully, there are a lot of wonderful smaller eras within this sweet spot – regency, Victorian, western, gilded age – so it never feels restrictive.

Many readers are far more eclectic than I am and have a wonderfully large sweet spot that entails a multitude of settings and genres. So when our July Reading Challenge arrived last month, challenging our members to read a book set in an era they didn’t usually read, the challenge was different depending on how big of a sweet spot the readers had. Our small sweet spot readers (like me) had to get out of their comfort zone and try something new. Our large sweet spot readers had to find something unique enough that it fell outside their wide parameters.

I created a graphic to help readers find ideas for books that would work for them by defining some specific timeline eras.

I broke out of my historical sweet spot and read a contemporary – Toni Shiloh’s In Search of a Prince. It was utterly charming, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. This month, however, I retreated right back to my historical roots to read The Lost Lieutenant by Erica Vetsch since she and I share the same number of letters in our first name (August’s challenge). I can step out of my sweet spot once in a while, but it always calls me back.

How wide is your reading sweet spot?
If you were to participate in the July challenge, what era would you select?

My Office Space

Back at the beginning of 2022—yes, eight months ago!—I realized no one had slept in the dedicated nursery room upstairs for the entire year we’d lived in the house. What would be better, I surmised, was a playroom for when the kids came over. And it made more sense for the playroom to multipurpose with the large extra guest/exercise room and to move my office to space just for me. The upstairs bedroom at the front of the house is not huge, but it is light and bright. While I got the desk moved back in January, it’s taken me this long to situate everything else. Now that it’s basically finished, I’d thought maybe you’d like a tour! 

Desk

When we moved into this house, I found this desk at a furniture consignment shop and fell in love. I usually go for more ornate, antique-like things, but for some reasons the unique and clean lines and the enormous workspace of this desk appealed to me. This was the only piece of furniture I had in the multipurpose office space. I don’t always sit at a desk, but I’ve found myself doing so more and more. Might have something to do with the view.

Bookshelves

Of course the next most important thing in my office is bookshelves. I found these to hold my reference books, craft books, books I’ve edited for others and copies of my own book. They were just the right size for those angled walls, leaving enough room for the book covers to hang over them. There are more bookshelves and books in the closet—mostly hordes of research books–but I can’t show you the closet because it desperately needs organization! 

Chair

When I was in the process of moving to this space, my husband offered to buy me a chair for my birthday. I found this lovely recliner at Lazy-boy and I couldn’t be happier! It’s comfortable and cute all at the same time. To top it off, I finally found a cozy throw to compliment it and to keep me warm on winter days. 

Tables

One for the printer, one for beside the chair. These took me much longer to choose. I felt I had enough dark furniture and I wanted to match some colors in my chair. In fact, I just got the smaller table last week—thus today’s tour. I love that both have space for storage as well.

Pictures

I’m happy to again have a place for the lovely prints of my Bethany House book covers that my sweet husband had framed for me with each new release. I also added the Elizabeth Wade Little Women map my son and daughter-in-law gave me and hope to get another of her book map paintings for the opposite side of that wall. In between, a lovely calendar I found last year. Each month shows a different work of art which features a woman reading. How perfect is that! 

I love spending time here. The coziness and functionality has been conductive to work of all kinds. And since it’s been several years since I had a workspace all my own, I’m especially grateful. 

Do you have a place in your home that is all yours? Tell us about it!